Ore-separator



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. BAINBRIDGE.

ORE SEPARATOR.

Patented Oct. 15, 1889.

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. W. BAINBRIDGE.

ORE SBPARATOR. No. 413,013. Patented Oct; 15, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM BAINBRIDGE, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

ORpE- SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,013, dated October15, 1889.

Application filed August 29, 1838. Serial No. 2842,0831 (N0 model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for TreatingOre; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus adapted to be worked in thepresence of water to collect the particles of gold or other min eralfrom sand or gravel containing the same, it being particularly intendedfor treating lowgrade ores containing but little mineral, from which itis adapted to collect the flour or float scale as well as the graingold.

It consists of an apparatus to be hereinafter described, whereby suchlow-grade ores or sand and gravel may be advantageously and profitablywashed and the precious metals concentrated and saved therefrom.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is atransverse section looking toward the tail end of the cylinder, part ofone of the cylindenheads being broken away and the position of water-olevator being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a transverse section,enlarged, of a portion of the cylinder. Fig. A is a horizontal section,enlarged, of a portion of the head end of the cylinder. .Fig. 5 is afront end view, enlarged, of the cylinder, parts being broken away.

The material to be treated is fed into the casing A inclosing theapparatus through a hopper A, which discharges upon an incline or chutea, by which it is directed into a cylindrical rotating screen B, mountedupon a central shaft D. This cylinder-screen is com posed of the heads 23, supported from the shaft D by spiders 4, and connected with eachother by longitudinal bars or stay-rods 5,. extending lengthwise of thecylinder-screen.

Each cylindenhead supports interiorly two concentric rings F F, formed,preferably, of metal and grooved upon their inner faces to receive,respectively, the ends of the bars, which together make up thescreening-sun faces of the cylilldenscreen, represented, re spectively,by O and E. The inner surface '0 is in the nature of a grate formed oflongitudinal bars 0, preferably of metal square in cross-section, andplaced edge to edge, so as to leave narrow spaces between them, throughwhich the screened material may pass to the outer screening-surfaceE,which is composed of slats or bars 6, preferably of glass, sup portedby the rings F, and also by intermediate rings 6, ca'rriedbythelongitudinalbars 5, if found necessary. The glass slats eoverlap eachother, as best seen in Fig. 3, and are an ranged so that the spacesbetween them are less than the spaces between the bars 0. The interiorof the cylindenscreen is divided into several compartments, preferablyfour, by longitudinal partitions N, extending from head to head and fromthe shaft to the outer screeningsurface E. Each partition has secured toone end of its faces inclined strips or flights O, which'serve to feedthrough the machine such material as fails to pass through the surface0, the final strip 0 at the tail end of the machine being scoopshaped tofacilitate the discharge of the material through the central opening ofthe head 2. Such fine material as passes outward through the outerscreening-surface E and which con tains the scale or flour gold or othermineral being collected falls upon the inclined wingboards 7, by whichit is directed to a shoe Gr, mounted in an inclined position uponrollers or equivalent supports H below the cylinder. This riifle iscomposed of a series of Zshaped plates 0, mounted in a frame so as toslightly overlap each other and leave open spaces be tween and under thesections or platesg. The angles orknees of the Z-sl1aped plates retainany grain gold which may find its way to the riffle. The float gold andfine lighter debris floats off into a hopper X, by which it is con veyedto a reservoir or settling-receptacle L, while. the pyrites, black sand,and the like heavier materials pass to the discharge end of the riffleand are conveyed away by a con veyer K.

To facilitate the separation of the various kinds of material deliveredupon the shoe, the latter is given a vibratory and preferably knockingor thumping motion. This I prefer to impart by means of an inclinedbearing strip or cam I, carried by the cylinder-screen and engaging witha projection 2' upon the riffle, which is thereby slid upon its supportstoward the head of the machine. As soon as this cam disengages theprojection 1' the riffie is returned by gravity, assisted by a weight J,until it is arrested with a jar by striking against the partition 8,situated opposite its discharge end. These jarring and reciprocatingmovements advance the materials upon the riffle and cause them toseparate, as above set forth. The lighter portions of the sedimentcollected in the tank or reservoir L are withdrawn through a siphon 9,which leaves the heavier portions containing the gold or other mineralin the bottom of the tank,which, when sufficient has collected, iscleaned and the material removed treated in any suitable manner tocollect the fine gold or other mineral contained therein.

The cylinder-screen B is provided at its head end with a series ofcurved elevatorblades M, of scoop shape, secured to the outer .face ofthe head 3 and arranged to elevate the water from the tank and dischargeit through the opening 1 into the cylinder through the central openingin the head 3, thus creating a constant circulation of water through thecylinder from the interior outward so long as it is rotated, suchcirculation carrying with it the fine particles of the mineral throughthe screening-surfaces C and E. i

X is a screen or filter consisting, preferably, of some porous orfibrous material mounted between perforated plates or wirecloth andsituated between the partitions h and m, below the elevator-blades M.This screen operates to prevent the passage of any float material whichmay be in suspension in the Water while allowing the latter to flowreadily through the same. A portion 12 of the gratcsurface 0, boundingeach division formed by the partitions N, is hinged at 10, so that asthe cylinder-screen revolves it automatically vibrates between thepositions shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus periodicallyopening communication between the interior of the cylinder-screen andthe space between the gratings O and E, so that all material which haspassed through the grate-surface C, but is too coarse to pass throughthe surface E, is returned through the opening made by the grate-surface12, assuming the dotted line position, into the interior of thecylinder-screen, to be passed out along with the other Waste material atthe tail end thereof. Each division of the cylinderscreen is providedwith a trap P, arranged adjacent to one of the partitions N and openinginto the space between the screening-surfaces O and E. Into these trapsthe particles of gold which are too large to pass between the glassstrips forming the surface E collect, and. from which they may beremoved at proper intervals through openings Q in the outer screen E,which openings are covered by slides R.

Opposite the discharge-opening through the tail and head 2 of thecylinder-screen is mounted a conveyer-belt S, running over a concave orcentrally-grooved pulley s, mounted on the shaft 15, and receiving suchmaterial as is discharged from the cylinder 13 and delivering it out ofthe machine.

- T are stirrer arms or blades arranged within the hopper orfeeding-chute a and mounted upon the shaft D, by which they are rotatedto stir and feed into the cylinder the material from the hopper A.

The cylinder-screen may be driven from any suitable motor, and the shaft15, carrying the pulley 8, may be belted to the shaft D of the cylinderby a belt 13, passing over pulleys 14 and V, carried by the said shafts,respectively.

The conveyer K is driven from the shaftD by a belt 16, passing overpulleys U U, carried, respectively, by the said shaft and the shaft ofone of the turning wheels of the conveyer, and serves to raise thematerial passing from the shoe and to deposit it on the grooved wheel S,from which it drops on the conveyerbelt 5, above referred to.

I will now describe the operation of the apparatus: The tank beingsufficiently filled with water, the cylinder-screen is rotated and thematerial fed slowly into the machine from the hopper A As it passesalong the cylinderscreen it is thoroughly agitated by the rotationthereof and the action of the screeningsurfaces O and E. The finestmaterial, including the float and very small particles of gold, passesthrough the two screens 0 and E, being aided in such passage by thewater which is being constantly poured into the cylinder by theelevator-blades M, and is directed by the wing-boards 7 to the riffle GrThe agitation of theriffle, as hereinbefore de scribed, serves tofurtherseparate the matter fed thereto, the finest portion (includingthe fioat gold) being carried off, and finally collecting in thereservoir L, the small particles or granules of gold being caughtby theknees of the riftle-plates g, while the practically worthless matter isfed over the tail end of the riffle and is delivered to any suitable receptacle or place by the conveyer K. The larger particles of gold which,having passed between the bars of the grate 0, yet fail to pass betweenthe bars or slats of the screen E, are collected in the pockets P,whence from time to time they are removed together with such othermaterial as may have collected therein. After the material between thescreening=surfaces has been suffieiently subjected to their action, itcomes opposite to the pivoted portion 12 of the inner grate orscreensurface, whereby such portion as has failed to matter, is returnedinto the interior of the cylinder, to be passed therefrom and out of themachine by the conveyer S.

Having thus described the most approved form of my invention now knownto me, and without limiting myself to the precise construction andarrangement of the parts as shown and described, I claim- 1. In anore-separator, a shoe composed of a frame, and Z-shaped plates mountedtherein and arranged with spaces between them, forming horizontalshelves and settling-pockets for the gold, substantially as described.

2. A11 ore-separating screen divided longitudinally by partitionsprovided with flights or advancing plates carried by the partitions,substantially as described.

3. In an ore-separator, a cylinder having concentric screeningsurfaces,the outer one being the finer, the pockets P, communicating with thespace between the screeningsurfaces, and the openings into the pocketsthrough the outer surface closed by slides, sub stantially as described.

4:. In combination with a rotary screen provided with an oblique cam, aninclined shoe mounted on rollers beneath the screen and having aprojection to engage the oblique cam, substantially as described.

5. In an ore-separator, a screen composed of two cylindrical surfaces,the inner being made up of angular metallic bars placed edge to edgewith spaces between, and the outer consisting of fiat slats of very hardmaterial overlapping each other with small spaces between, substantiallyas described.

6. In an ore-separator, a screen composed of two surfaces, the innercoarser than the outer and having a portion of its cylinder hinged toswing open into the central space, substantially as described.

7. In an ore-separator, a rotating screen divided longitudinally intocompartments provided with two concentric screening-surfaces, the outerfiner than the inner, and the inner provided with swinging traps openinginto the interior, substantially as described,

8. In an ore-separator, a rotating screen composed of twoscreening-surfaces, the outer finer than the inner, longitudinalpartitions, traps in the inner surface opening into the interior, andpockets between the surfaces andnext the partitions, arrangedsubstantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 5 5

